Daily Scripture:"The time is surely coming, says the Lord God, when I will send a famine on the land; not a famine of bread, or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it." (Amos 8.11&12)Daily Reflection:Amos was a prophet who served God around 750 B.C. The people of Israel were living under a pious veneer of religion (as one commentator on the Bible puts it); Amos came along – directed by God – and told them a few home-truths. If we read prophets like this, we can learn from them by putting ourselves in the place of the people they were speaking to. (Two examples: Have we grown complacent? Do we ignore the needs of others?) What struck me about these two verses was: there must have been a time when people really searched for the word of God; they had a desire deep inside to hear God. Oh how things changed! We have God’s word available to us – the Bible. Let’s not be apathetic about it. It is a gift for you. Cherish it; don’t ignore it. It can provide you with answers about life. Revd David
Daily Scripture"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God and that you are not your own?" (1 Corinthians 6 verse 19)Daily ReflectionMidway through January already; and perhaps resolutions are starting to wane? Paul says that our bodies are actually "temples" and so we should treat them as such, knowing that God created us in His image. We know that we should eat the right foods and keep our bodies fit to be in good physical health. But what about good spiritual health? Note that the above verse says " the Holy Spirit within you". All of us, so the Bible says, have the "in built knowledge of God". It is not just the physical, but more importantly the spiritual side of us that needs feeding, but often we don't recognise that part so readily. The bible is packed with nutritious spiritual food that sustains us and encourages us. Our online church services (found on Facebook and the St Nicholas website) are full of biblical insight through preaching, prayer and forgiveness which fuel our daily walk with God. Spending time talking and listening to God at home cleanses and refreshes us like a cool glass of water. Be mindful of your spiritual health, as well as your physical health - it's just as important! Vicki Young
Daily ScriptureThe next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him ‘Follow me’.Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathaniel and said to him ‘We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus, son of Joseph from Nazareth.’ Nathaniel said to him ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’ Philip said to him ‘Come and see.’ (John 1:43-46)Daily ReflectionPhilip has made the most amazing discovery: the long awaited Messiah foretold by the prophets is living just down the road, in the next town. Could there be any news more exciting, more mind boggling than this? And what is Nathaniel’s response to the news? With a dismissive shrug he replies, ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’ Of course, when he actually meets Jesus for himself, face to face, he recognises how mistaken he was. He becomes a follower of Jesus, and one of his close circle of disciples.Great blessings sometimes come to us in unexpected ways and through unlikely people. God’s way of doing things may not be ours. Once we open ourselves up to the surprising possibilities, he may have in store for us life becomes infinitely more exciting! Revd Rosemary
Daily Scripture:18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and people came and said to him, ‘Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?’ 19 Jesus said to them, ‘The wedding-guests cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them, can they? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20 The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day. 21 ‘No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. 22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.’ (Mark 2:18-22)Almighty God, in Christ you make all things new,transform the poverty of our nature by the riches of your grace,and in the renewal of our livesmake known your heavenly glory;From the Collect (prayer) for the Second Sunday of Epiphany, Church of EnglandDaily Reflection:It is mid-January, and maybe some of us made some New Year’s resolutions. Have we kept them? Or, have we already come unstuck? This year, more than ever, we might feel like it’s futile. But new habits take time to form. In this Gospel reading Jesus is asked why he and his disciples don’t fast, when others do. His explanation says: ‘I’m bringing something new, a whole new way of living. You can’t expect my followers to live like people have always done.’ When we turn to Jesus and start following him, our life is changed. Our habits are changed, our way of thinking and acting. But, like all good habits, this takes time to bed in. Don’t lose heart. Keep praying, keep reading the Bible, keep practising kindness.Revd Ylva
